


Star Crossed

by spiritsl



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alien Biology, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Food Fight, Huddling For Warmth, Injury, Mech Preg (Transformers), Near Death Experiences, Nightmares, Rating May Change, Tags May Change, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Transformer Sparklings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-01-05 11:31:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21207824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritsl/pseuds/spiritsl
Summary: A collection of stories in no order, some more canon than others, of the relationship between Starscream and Windblade as they navigate life and each other.





	1. Frostbite

**Author's Note:**

> The ratings and tags will change as I update, but this will be where all one or two shots go regarding these two lovely birds. 
> 
> First story, after crashing during a secret mission on an icy planet, Windblade and Starscream were ambushed by hostile forces. After taking a nasty hit, Windblade is rescued by Starscream, who manages to flee their pursuers and seek shelter...

Windblade felt the sharp, burning pain in her side rise and fall like a wave as she faded in and out of consciousness, her broken body shaking in a maelstrom of cold and agony as she struggled to get a hold of reality. It felt like she was floating, her body drifting through the biting winds that assaulted her at every angle. A part of her couldn't help but wonder if she was dead.

Another voice cursing in frustration told her she was still among the living, even if she couldn't remember where she was or what was happening. It took her an eternity to realize her optics were closed, and an eternity longer to gather up the strength to open them. Blinding white greeted her to match the howling winds in her audials, save for a brief flash of blue at the corner of her vision. Rolling her helm, she caught sight of a blurry body beside her; cradling her in its arms as it trudged through the endless snow. The face was barely visible in the storm, but she recognized it immediately, the bright purple optics shining like warm beacons in the frigid cold.

"Starscream?"

Her voice was little more than a whisper, but he looked down at her immediately, worry in every line of his handsome face.

"Windblade? Thank Primus..." He sighed, lifting her a little closer to his chest. The movement sent a sharp stab of pain through her, and she reached down to feel the epicenter of the discomfort to find a not at all small chunk of her side missing. Too out of it to be concerned, she tried to figure out how she could have been hurt. The last thing she remembered was crashing- was that how she'd been injured? Everything was a blur of ice and pain... The cold was even digging its way into her wound, freezing exposed circuitry as it tried in vain to self repair.

"Why am... Where-"

"Shhh..." Starscream shushed her gently, keeping her shivering body as closed to him as possible. The worry on his face was less concerning than it should have been, and she found herself able only to really process she was in his arms. What little warmth remained was all coming from him, and she used the small amount of strength she still had to press her body into his as much as possible. "We're getting somewhere safe, okay? You're going to be fine, just hold on..."

Windblade tried to comprehend everything that was happening. The ice seemed to be permeating every part of her body, including her mind, making thinking all but impossible. The pain wasn't helping either, nor the energon loss her systems were trying to warn her about. It was all so incredibly overwhelming. Darkness pulled on the edge of her perception as it all became too much for her exhausted body, the cold and the pain fading as blissful unconscious dipped her under for what felt like only a few moments...

A voice tugged her back to reality, but this time she wasn't as willing to heed it. Primus, had she ever been so tired? Why couldn't she just be allowed a brief power down?

"Windblade? Windblade, please...!" Starscream begged, his hand on her cheek when her optics failed to open.

Having set her down against the wall of the deepest part of the cave, Starscream tried a gentle shake of her shoulders, desperate both to awaken her but not disturb the wound on her side. Despite not being a medic, he knew how dangerous sleeping in such a situation was. She had to wake up, had to, she couldn't... Not... Be okay! He refused to allow it!

The smallest sound of discomfort from her was like music to his audials. In moments, beautiful blue optics cracked open to look at him with exhausted confusion, their normally vibrant depths gray and dull but still online. Doing everything he could to stay calm, he kept a hand on her frigid cheek, a relieved but still terrified smile on his face.

"There you are, look at me, it's alright..."

Windblade followed the directions without truly grasping them. Looking into the bright purple optics looking back at her, she tried to lift a hand to touch the one on her cheek, unused to its touch but finding she liked it.

"Stay still, I have the emergency kit from the ship, let's see what we- yes!" Starscream announced, using his free hand to pull a brightly colored box from his subspace and cracking it open. Following his movements with dull optics, she barely caught sight of a portable heater in his hand before he turned it on and set it on the floor, the tiny square lighting up with a heated glow in moments.

"I think... Did we crash?" She gasped,memories swirling through her processor like the snow just outside the cave. This time he put a finger to her lips, shushing her with worry she had never seen on him before.

"Questions later, alright? I'm going to get you fixed up first." Starscream assured, looking to the still gaping but thankfully not bleeding wound on her left side. Of course, the lack of bleeding may well have been a very bad sign in its own right... Going back to the kit, he fumbled through its contents for the most useful items at the moment, knowing that the warmth of the heater would buy him time but be useless if he couldn't adress her injury.

"Are you hurt?" She asked suddenly, catching sight of blue energon on his hands and front. Forgetting that Cybertronians bled purple, she tried to reach out to help him in her daze, only to cry out when the movement sent a shock of pain through her side.

"No moving!" He ordered, fear in his voice covering up any attempt at authority. Taking hold of her shoulders, he encouraged her to be still as she settled back from the pain, her optics a little brighter from the shock. Biting his lip, he traced a thumb over her cheek, desperate to keep her calm despite their dire circumstances and his obvious panic. "Just wait right there, alright? I don't have a scratch on me. This energon is... It's not mine."

Unable to put together that the energon was, in fact, hers, Windblade allowed herself to lie back and watch as he pulled another item from the kit.

"First aid replacement mesh... It's not the best, but it'll do in a pinch. I've used it to patch myself up... Many times." Starscream explained, trying not to think of the countless scenarios where he'd had to save himself after a particularly bad beating. All that mattered now was it meant he had the experience to help her. As the emergency supplies worked almost like thick, sticky tape, he knew he'd need her still to get the patch on correctly.

"I'm going to apply this now, alright? It'll hurt and there's nothing I can do about that, but it will close up the wound and you'll feel much better afterwards."

Windblade nodded more out of politeness than understanding, too far gone to grasp the mean I of what he'd just confessed to her. Trusting him to maneuver her arm out of the way, she watched as he pulled out a shiny piece of mesh from the kit and angled it over her wound, unconcerned and unresponsive until he pressed the first strip over her injury.

A lightning bolt seemed to strike the spot he touched, tearing a scream from her throat as she jolted upright. Starscream continued to work despite her weak protests, his hands working fast and smoothly as he tried to be heard above her cries.

"I know it hurts, but it's almost over. You'll feel so much better when it's done, I promise. I'm so sorry..."

Memories he'd forced under surged at the spark wrenching sound of her cries. How many times had he been forced to deal with this pain himself, only to wish no bot ever experience it themselves? And now, to have to force it on Windblade by his own hand, just so they had some hope of escaping this frigid nightmare alive... It wasn't fair, and he worked as fast as he could, but she was still trembling and in tears by the time they were done.

"No more, okay? The wound won't bleed anymore, and you'll be able to start self repair."

Windblade barely heard him over the ringing in her audials, her whole body still spiraling from the pain and tears falling unbidden down her cheeks. She didn't want to hurt anymore, or be cold anymore. The unconsciousness she'd been in before had been bliss compared to this agony, and she wondered if she could escape to it once more. After all, she was so very tired...

"Windblade, please..." Starscream begged the moment she closed her optics, taking her face in his hands and leaning in. Even with unclear vision, the agony in his expression was still clear, as were the tears threatening to fall from his optics. "I'm sorry... I don't want to lose you. You have to be better, okay? You have to stay awake so we can be rescued and go back home. I can't lose you again..."

"It's okay..." She soothed reflexively, hating to see him so hurt. Grabbing the expandable blanket at the bottom of the kit, he unfolded it and draped it over her in a single motion, spurred to action once more.

"Of course it's going to be okay. I'm going to keep you warm for as long as it takes. They'll send out a search crew the moment we fail to check in, and then we'll both go home together. Nothing is going to get to you ever again."

Windblade was pulled into his lap before she even knew what was happening, her limp form settling against his as the blanket was pulled tightly around her. Once more she found herself looking up at him. Bright purple optics shone with determination as he sat in front of the portable heater, his whole body enveloping her as the blanket did as if she was the most precious thing in the universe. The first bits of warmth started to meet her once she settled against his broad chest, breathing life back into her broken body.

"Starscream." She sighed, laying her helm on his shoulder. The pain seemed to fade as she melted into his warmth and safety, his aura bringing a kind of peace and clarity to her mind that she'd never known.

"Shhhh..." He soothed, holding her close and willing every bit of heat within him to go to her. Windblade felt his pump beat beneath the warm armor of his chest and leaned into the sensation, wanting to be as close to him as possible. Nothing felt wrong in his arms, even if they were light years from home and on an alien world. Gently tapping his helm against hers, he whispered right into her audial receptor. "Everything will be alright... I'm not letting you go...

\---------------------

Windblade came to in a flurry of activity all around her, the distant hum of a spaceship forming a consistent backdrop as countless voices talked in hurried and anxious tones. Not strong enough to open her optics, she made a soft sound of loss as she was removed from a warm embrace and laid upon a flat slab that she recognized from experience as a medical carrier. Incoherent and a little alarmed at the burst of movement, she tried to move on instinct, her side aching in protest as she tried to lift herself free.

"Stay still, they're here to help." A familiar voice ensured, giving her the encouragement she needed to crack her optics open. Starscream stood beside the medical slab beside a team of medics, his face utterly exhausted but painted with total relief as she was lifted off the ground. Remembering his embrace through the long hours of the night and the whispered promise of rescue, she smiled despite her discomfort. He'd kept her warm and alive even when she had lost the strength just to stay awake. And now here they were, tired and cold but safe, being picked up to return home together.

"We have a medical station ready on the shuttle and a full operating bay on the main ship." One of the medics informed the more awake and able Starscream as they began to move, the uninjured mech keeping pace as they hurried out of the cave and to the waiting shuttle in the much lighter snow. Windblade kept her optics focused on Starscream every step of the way, barely hearing the medics and their jargon on the edge of her perception. All that mattered was the mech who had saved her. Every part of her could still feel the warmth of his touch and the tenderness of his hands upon her, as well as the care in his optics as he'd looked down upon her. She didn't want to be away from it.

"Cityspeaker, can you hear us?" A voice asked in what sounded like a repeated question, encouraging her to look at the femme who'd asked it.

"Yes..." She replied softly, voice barely more than a whisper as they entered the climate controlled shuttle and left the cold at last.

"We're going to put you under for surgery. The operating bay is ready and the doctors have your scans."

A gentle hand on her helm soothed her before she could even begin to worry.

"You'll be fine. I'll be right here when you wake up..." Starscream assured, taking a place at her side as the doctors worked. Feeling his hand take hers, she relaxed with a sigh even as an IV was inserted in her arm, the simple comfort of his presence soothing her. There was nothing to fear when he was with her, and she knew know that he'd always be with her. It had just taken a lot to get her to see it...


	2. Nightmare

Wakefulness came to Starscream just as the final blow from Megatron came crashing down where his spark had been, but the terrified Seeker had no sense of reality as he sat up in a flailing, panicking haze. Darkness was all around him as he scanned the room in a desperate search for his attacker, arms wrestling with foreign hands as he fought to escape and get his bearings all while his fear addled mind struggled to comprehend what was happening. Megatron couldn't hurt him again, he wouldn't let him! Ringing in his audials began to fade into muffled tones just as he caught sight of a blur of motion and took hold of the hands on his chest, millions of years of experience allowing him to come to just enough to recognize the stimuli around him.

"Starscream!"

The voice was feminine and familiar, and he realized it was close just as a bright blue pair of optics came to him.

"Starscream, it's me!"

Windblade was clinging to him and holding him as still as she could, her hands gripping the armor of his chest as her face hovered over his on the berth. Everything fell into place in moments. They were on his berth together, in his room, without a trace of a threat in sight. Another of his nightmares had forced him to wake, and even now as he felt the beating of his spark and the rapid heat of his vents, the fear still raged within him. Megatron had been there, ready to end him, as real as the countless times it had been threatened before...

"Look at me..." Windblade whispered, reaching up to cup both sides of his face in her hands. Despite flinching at the initial touch, he allowed her to take hold of him, their optics meeting as he became still enough to see her clearly. A beautiful, worried face looked back at him. Despite ventilating hard and trembling, he could still make out every detail on her in the darkness. The calm, soothing reassurance in her optics juxtaposed almost comically with the murderous intent he'd seen in his dream.

"That's it, you're safe now." She soothed in a whisper, giving a reassuring but worried smile. Despite how solid her touch was, he couldn't allow himself to believe she was completely there. The nightmares had always been there, always hounded his sleep, and always brought him back to the eons of misery that had shaped him. How could they be any less real? What had he done to deserve this reality, regardless? Megatron would never leave him, and neither would his sins. Bots like him didn't get to wake up...

Tears were flowing before he even knew what was happening, his shoulders shaking as the terror of his nightmare sunk its claws into him again. Windblade didn't deserve something as foul as he. It was all too much to bare, and he wept openly.

"Hey, hey..." Windblade whispered, pulling his face up to look at her. The beautiful blue of her optics blurred with his tears, and he looked away in shame. Why would she taint herself with a monster like him? A monster so cowardly it couldn't even sleep under the weight of its mistakes?

"Look at me." She said again, insistently this time and pulling in until they were almost nose to nose. "I'm here, okay? I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

There was no fight in him as he was pulled into an embrace, his helm settling beneath hers as she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. The warmth and caring in her touch was too much. A broken sob escaped his vocalizer as he remained limp in defeat, too lost in his own self hatred to even attempt to break away. Didn't she know what she was doing? Didn't she care she was sharing a bed with a monster?

"Shhh..." She soothed, holding him closer and stroking a gentle hand over his helm, fingers brushing over his crests with loving tenderness. There was as much care in her touch as a bot would have while cradling a sparkling. More sobs shook his trembling frame, forcing their way out before she began to gently rock him in place, shushing all the while.

"It's okay... I'm here... You're safe now..."

Despite all of his loathing, everything about her touch quieted him. The sobs faded with the tears as she continued to hold him, her gentle hands stroking his helm in tune to the slow rocking of her body. Soft shushes in his audial eventually eased him into a state of almost equal calm, the dream fading along with its hold until he was only exhausted instead of petrified. It felt like heaven. To be so cared for, so safe...

"That's it... I've got you." Windblade said softly into his audial, leaving a gentle kiss on his helm. She was handling him as if he was the most precious thing in the world, and it vexed him as much as it comforted him. Didn't she know what he'd done? How his failings and abuses visited him every night to haunt him? What bot in their right mind would want any part of that?

"I'll always be here, okay? No matter what." She said, pulling back just a little to brush aside some of the still lingering tears on his cheeks. With the blur gone, he could see every bit of the love in her optics as clearly as ever, and saw that there wasn't a trace of doubt in her optics. For all his sins, she still loved him. Even at his lowest, she held him tightly until the pain faded away... Leaning back against her, he let out a soft sigh as she resumed her tender embrace, comforting him back to recharge that would have been impossible on his own. Despite everything, she still chose to see the best in him, fighting through the darkness until they were both back in the light, and showing him love without reservations.

He could only try to be worthy of that love.


	3. Surprise

The council room spun around Windblade like a hurricane when she stood up at last, her effort to slip out of the meeting unnoticed crashing down in a moment as the headache and nausea she'd been stifling intensified to a crescendo from the mere effort of standing. There were shouts on the edge of her perception as her legs gave way, everything turning to chaos as the world turned upside down. She barely felt her body thud against the floor. Every part of her was weak and shaking as she lay on her back, vision spinning in a blur she could barely decipher as blackness closed in on every side. There was a flash of many forms above her, including a central figure that came close enough to be seen clearly.

Starscream was above her, his face wracked with worry and his mouth open in calls she couldn't hear. In her haze all she could do was reach for him with an arm too weak to cross the distance, blackness closing in until nothing else remained and she slipped into blissful unconsciousness...

Wakefulness came with another, less intense sensation of spinning. The still weak limbs of her body were all pressed flat against the cool surface of a metal berth, and she recognized a faint pinch in her arm from a very recently inserted IV. Nothing made sense to her, beyond the fact that she still felt as if she'd crashed into a wall. Soft sounds on the edge of her perception became clearer as she left unconsciousness for wakefulness.

The first thing she saw once she cracked her optics open, after she blinked them away from the bright lights above, was a familiar blue form seated just beside her. Starscream was on a chair pushed as physically close to the berth as possible, his form hunched over and worried expression locked on a data pad that he seemed to be trying to bury himself in as a distraction.

"Starscream?" She whispered softly, catching his attention with an immediate and powerful jolt.

"Windblade?" He gasped in elated shock, letting the data pad fall to the floor as he took one of her hands in his. There was still impossible worry in his optics, but also absolute relief at the sight of her awake. While she couldn't remember what had gotten her here, she was coherent enough to know she was in the hospital and felt like absolute scrap.

"Primus, why didn't you say anything?! I knew you were sick- but this? Why did you try to hide it? They said your energon levels bordered on dangerous, and you were so close to things... being so much worse... Why didn't you tell me before we started the council meeting? I would have done everything to get you out of it!"

His frantic speech brought back the morning to her, as well as the unfathomable sickness she'd forced down to attend to her duties. That meeting had been important, far too important for a virus to delay... But it seemed her choice hadn't mattered in the end. The overpowering sickness had dropped her the moment she'd tried to slip out for fresh air, and no doubt there'd be a colossal political mess to clean upon their return...

"I'm fine now." She tried to argue, painfully aware of how pathetic she sounded with her weak, croaking voice. Starscream didn't even let her try to continue.

"You are not! The medics said you barely had enough energon to sample for the tests! They're going to tell us what's wrong, and you're not leaving until you're better and-"

The door opened to silence him, a brightly colored medical bot emerging with a data pad in front of her calm and almost expectant face. Looking up at them, she stopped once she saw Windblade awake, a little surprised but not at all alarmed.

"Oh, you're already up! Well, that makes less work for me. I already have the test results back; we didn't have to do many." She said, approaching the berth and tapping a few keys on her data pad. A soft smile on her face contrasted with the apparently serious nature of the room, no panic in her body language as she looked up and between them. "I assume the two of you are together?"

Starscream replied for her when she was too surprised by the question to answer, but his tone was just as openly shocked as she was.

"We... We are, but what does that have to do with anything?" He said with visible confusion, both for the timing of the query and it's supposedly obvious nature. The tabloids were so often on them he hadn't believed anyone on the planet was still unaware they were together. The medibot only nodded and tapped a few more things down, her smile somehow more off putting than comforting given its confounding nature.

"Well, we've found the reason for the unexpected loss of consciousness. Standard tests picked it up right away, despite the low energon levels, so I'd say you're decently along but..." Looking to them and beaming, she announced their findings with absolute enthusiasm.

"Congratulations Cityspeaker, you're carrying!"

The news hit Windblade like another wave of illness. Carrying, as in, sparked with a new life, as in expecting a living, thinking sparkling... The pieces fell into place with terrifying accuracy. How long she'd been sick, been craving extra fuel that she'd denied herself, and how often they had engaged in activities that could have very easily resulted in conception. The world started to turn on itself again, but this time there was no unconscious to save her.

"I'm sorry, there must be some confusion..." Starscream spoke up, voice still a little flat from the total shock of the diagnosis. Windblade scored his face for any sign of an expression, desperate to know how he was taking this. Was he as terrified as she was?

"Oh, is it not yours?" The medic replied, face falling into uncomfortable shock at his query.

"No!" Windblade blurted out when she found her voice, not even wanting to consider the idea of having cheated. Both pairs of optics turned on her in a flash, and she gulped down a gag of panic to tap into her experience with handling stress. "It's his... It's just... We weren't even trying."

The medic looked relieved. "Oh, well you're definitely sparked. About two months along, I'd say. And a powerful enough signature that there could be more than one."

Starscream sat a little more heavily in his chair and leaned against the berth Windblade was on, his face finally betraying earth shattering shock. Unable to truly process the life altering events she'd just been told, Windblade only went for more information, feeling like she was on the verge of stasis lock.

"How... much more than one?"

"It's difficult to approximate, but it's quite likely to at least be twins, and still possible it's a trine. We'll need far more tests to be sure. Speaking of which, we should probably schedule you for all the basics, so you can get caught up on your care." The medic replied happily, spouting off information that would change their lives as if it was nothing. Windblade almost wished she hadn't asked, as the idea of three sparklings growing inside of her was almost too crazy to be real. But it was real. There was no denying how much sense it all made together, or the certainty of a medical examination. Their many nights of fun had resulted in an unintended consequence that would change everything, and she had no way of knowing how it would change. They loved each other; but did he love her enough to raise sparklings with her? Especially more than one?

"That's... Certainly something we must consider. If you could leave us alone, please..." Starscream said politely, voice too calm to discern anything. The medic nodded in assent and turned to leave, giving a final "congratulations" over her shoulder before she shut the door and left them alone with their revelation.

"Did you know?" Starscream asked softly, his face not rising to meet hers as he spoke and his body swaying on the still chair. "Did you not want to tell me?"

"No!" She assured quickly and with near desperation, not want him to ever think she'd keep something so vital from him. While in hindsight she should have known something was off, she never could have guessed this... Primus, they were going to Creators, and they weren't even officially Conjunx Endura! How could she have not taken more precautions?

"I... I never thought I'd..." He trailed off, taking one of her hands in his as he looked far beyond the room they were in and slipped into his thoughts. "I never thought I'd be a sire..."

There was a sudden flash of fear in his optics, and he looked up to her with desperation to mirror her own.

"That is... If you want... I mean, I know this is unexpected, but I... That is to say I would very much want..." Starscream faded off into almost incoherent babbling before his voice box failed him altogether, his hands squeezing hers as he trembled in his chair in obviousl terrified silence before he forced out more words. "I want to have these sparklings with you, with us, as a couple..."

Relief beyond relief filled her at his words, even if a large part of her was still terrified beyond measure. There had been an unimaginable fear within her that this would be too much for him, that he'd abandon her to face this alone, but of course that had been wrong. He wanted to raise them alongside her, despite how incredibly surprising all of this had been. She wasn't sure she'd ever agreed with him more.

"Primus, yes..." She sighed, an unimaginable weight leaving her shoulders. "I want to. I know it's so sudden, but... I wanted to have sparklings of my own someday... And with you it's perfect."

"I should be terrified, and I am, but I'm thrilled Windblade..." He replied, leaning in to press their forehelms together. "The two of us; Creators. Primus, it doesn't even sound real, but..."

Trailing off into laughter, he pulled her in for a lopsided embrace, gentle but enthusiastic as he cradled her in shaking arms.

"Primus I... I'm going to be a sire! You'll be a carrier! We'll have the most beautiful sparklings in all of Cybertron!"


	4. Tiny

The first thing Starscream noticed as the three little bundles were handed to him was how they weighed absolutely nothing. Their incredibly tiny bodies settled into his arms easily with the help of the medibot to guide him, but he still held his ventilations as if they were made of glass and could shatter at any moment. Even their little faces looked so delicate...

"You're a natural..."

Windblade spoke in barely more than a whisper at his side, but he still jumped a little at her praise, his optics leaving the sparklings to look at her. Every inch of her body radiated absolute exhaustion, but there was incredible pride in her optics. Holding the bitlets a little closer, he looked to the three faces in turn, amazed at how such little things could lay him so low. Even the sound of their tiny vents threatened to overwhelm his spark with love. Primus, they had made these little ones, their beautiful forms growing in the femme he loved until they'd been ready to meet the world just a few hours prior...

"They're so tiny." Was all he could manage, his voice a broken croak of overwhelmed emotions. They were the most incredible things he'd ever seen. Even now, just hours after birth, he could see their shared features in them. Tiny nubs that would become wings were already unfolding to poke out of their blankets, and brilliant mixes of blue and red painted their soft armor.

The sparkling in the middle let out a tiny sound, turning his little chubby face upwards and wiggling a stubby arm free just as he began to yawn. Rubbing at his still closed optics, the tiny mech snuggled back against his sire when he was done, popping a chubby hand into his mouth to suckle. The sight almost overwhelmed Starscream to the point of tears.

"They're so beautiful." He whispered, lifting the snoozing babies closer to his face. Their chubby cheeks squished against him as they snuggled into his chest, tiny chirps of satisfaction breaking the silence as they got comfortable.

"I just can't believe they're finally here." Windblade sighed, reaching out with a shaking hand to touch one of their soft helms. The sparkling trilled happily at her familiar touch, and the exhausted femme let out a weak laugh at the adorable reaction. Even with almost no energy left to give, she felt like she could stay with her newborns forever, not wanting to miss a moment. Starscream recognized her exhaustion and tendency to overwork showing up immediately.

"Why don't you finally get some rest? I can take care of them for now." He assured, looking to the peacefully sleeping sparklings as if to emphasize her point.

"I shouldn't... Just a little longer..."

"Shhhh..." He soothed, maneuvering the bitlets into his lap so he could lay a tender hand on her helm. Sighing at the touch, she settled a little more on the berth, far too exhausted to even attempt an argument. Birth had truly taken everything she had...

"We'll all be here when you wake. Get some sleep now, my love."


	5. Dessert

"Windblade, have you seen that container of whipped coolant? I wanted to put some on-"

A cold dab against his nose made him flinch the moment he turned to look at her, his optics opening and crossing to see light blue coolant just as Windblade broke out giggling. Putting two and two together, he wiped off most of the mess with a smile, looking at her with a raised brow ridge.

"Are you quite proud of yourself?" He teased, letting her finish her unending chuckles first, the can of coolant still in her hands.

"You said you wanted some, you didn't say where!" Windblade said, still beaming at her silly little joke. Looking to the considerable amount of coolant still in his hand, Starscream responded with a grin of his own that he just couldn't hide.

"Well then, I'll just have to share."

Before she could even blink, he dabbed the coolant onto her nose in retaliation, unable to keep down his own chuckle when she crossed her optics in surprise.

Windblade erupted into giggles at his sweet assault, laughing so hard she couldn't open her optics. There was nothing he could do to resist laughing alongside her, a small snort escaping him before he joined in with endless chuckles over the silliness of it all. Primus, to think he'd only wanted breakfast...

"I'd say we need a little more!" She announced through her giggles, catching him so off guard that he didn't hear the hiss of more coolant being poured before her cupped hand splattered a palmful against his face.

Sputtering in shock, he opened his optics to find his entire mouth covered in sweet puff. Tasting some of the flavor he loved so much, he acted without thinking, mischievous lighting up his optics as he took her shoulders into his hands. Without giving her time to react, he pulled her in and kissed her with a faceful of coolant splatting against her. Her laughs stopped immediately at the touch, her whole body relaxing as she sighed and melted into him, cream and all.


	6. Realization

Windblade rested happily on her side, comfortable and at peace in the dark berthroom with nary a complaint in the world. All of the kingdom was probably sleeping by now, and as much as she probably needed to join them, she just couldn't bring herself to finally close her optics. The three little bundles before her were just too perfect...

Tiny and new, the triplets snoozed peacefully in their little basket attached to the side of her bed, each lovingly wrapped in their own uniquely colored blanket. The princess and her two younger prince brothers had joined them hours ago, but were only now settled and free to bond with their exhausted carrier. Windblade knew she had days to get to know them without fear of intrusion, but for the life of her she just couldn't take her optics off them for even a moment. How could she? It had been such a long journey to get them here, she didn't want to miss out on anything, even if everyone around her was encouraging rest. 

"I'd hoped you'd be sleeping by now..."

On cue as always, Starscream said exactly what she'd been thinking as soon as he entered the room, the heating pad she'd requested looped over one arm as he closed the door behind himself.

"I can't help it... They're so beautiful." She said softly, tired smile still on her face as she looked back down into the basket. The femme stirred a little at their conversation, but only to open her mouth in a wide and endearing yawn before settling back down on the edge of her two brothers. Tiniest of the three, the last born was snuggled up in the middle for extra warmth, his purple optics shut tight as he peacefully dozed.

"They'll be here when you wake up." Starscream assured, laying the heating pad across her sore back and turning it on. Gentle warmth filled the backstruts that she'd strained in labor. Sighing in appreciation, she laid her helm down on her folded arms to watch her little ones. 

"I know..." Windblade replied wistfully, dangling a digit into the basket as the temptation to gently stroke one of the bitlets rose up in her. Color was beginning to bloom across their smooth and soft plating, coming out in a pattern of blues and reds and purples in a perfect mix of their respective palettes. "But they're finally here, and I just can't look away."

"You need to sleep. You just gave birth." He encouraged softly, cupping her cheek to lift her field of vision to his face. There was happiness and exhaustion and worry in his optics, though the middle emotion was taking more of a hold with every passing hour. "I can watch them for now."

"But you need to sleep too." She reminded him, recalling how he'd also had a very long and eventful day. Of course it hadn't involved pushing out any sparklings, but still.

"I can wait. I certainly don't mind keeping an optic on them." 

As one, they both looked to the sparklings sleeping between them, leaning forward until their helms brushed together. All three of the bitlets were as peaceful as could be. Their little hands, still yet to develop a full set of digits, were just visible beneath their faces in case they got the urge to suckle, and it was painfully cute to see them curled under their chins. Otherwise little was visible in their swaddling, even the wings preparing to unfurl on their backs. All they could hear was the gentle fluttering of their soft and peaceful ventilations.

"They really are beautiful." Starscream whispered, laying his hand on the edge of the basket. 

"Hmmm..." She hummed in quiet agreement as she rested her helm against his.

"We made them; can you believe it? A little of the both of us, in three perfect new packages." Tempted as he clearly was to hold them, he kept his hands away so they could keep on sleeping, settling for continuing to watch them with a loving sigh. "I was so worried..."

The sudden change of pace caught her off guard. Looking up at him, she tried to get them face to face once more. "About what?"

"I thought that... I feared that having some of me in them might..." His voice trailed off with an audible crack, a sudden tremble in his lip bringing her back to full wakefulness. In an impossibly rare show of open trust, he let a few tears fall, an ache visible just in his expression. She could almost see happiness and grief warring within him. "I couldn't believe anything with a piece of me could turn out so wonderful."

It was a sentiment she'd been expecting, and one she'd known he carried, despite how he tried to hide it. There was pain in his spark that he still had yet to soothe. The pain and trauma of being cold constructed made him loathe himself even with his current body being as close to his true form as possible, and even with all the love and support she could offer. As always she did what she knew she needed to do.

"I can." Windblade whispered softly into his audial, pressing their forehelms together and bringing their gaze back to the bitlets between them. Pieces of his coding were obvious in all of them. From the shape of their armor to the colors beginning to shine through, it was obvious that they were half of their sire, and more beautiful because of it. She felt his shoulders give another shake, but this time the ragged sigh that slipped out of his vents was one of happy disbelief. Tears like the ones she'd shed when their tiny, wailing little forms were passed into her arms for the first time began rolling down his cheeks. The truth finally seemed to be dawn on him. They were beautiful because he was beautiful, and she sealed the realization with a gentle kiss to his audial and a loving whisper. 

"I always did."


	7. Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short but sweet, a bit of a twist on the usual, this time Starscream carries and with this theory they carry in their sparks and produce a liquid metal before birth for the sparkling to claim and shape into their protoform. I just felt like doing something new!

Starscream vented hard and fast as the surges from his spark finally hit the speed the doctor had told him to expect, the sharp pains of his first bitlet preparing to be born making him wince and grimace at the discomfort of waiting for the tiny spark to break the tether that had kept them alive this long. At his back, Windblade was massaging her digits into his tense back, shushing and soothing him as the pain hit new heights. 

The dense liquid in his palm jiggled as he trembled from another spasm, his hands keeping a firm grip on the cup he'd made between them to ensure nothing was lost. He held it close to his spark as he felt the bitlet trying once again to pull free.

The doctor said something that was probably supposed to be encouraging, but he was in far too much pain to hear it or really care, his audials ringing as the agony cranked up and the sparkling once more tugged to try and free itself. Squeezing his optics shut tight, he couldn't hold back a cry. Every part of him still capable of thinking was begging the bitlet to get out and just be born already. At his back, Windblade doubled her efforts, rubbing soothing hands across his shoulders as he labored on his knees and threatened to pass out as the agony started reaching new and terrible heights. It was all he could do to keep his hands together as the bitlet struggled to freedom; it's desperate desire for a body of its own and the terrible exertion this was giving them apparent through the bond. There was no comfort he could give as he struggled to stay focused, tears dotting his optic edges as the pain grew and grew until finally-

A strangled cry of new heights tore itself from him when there was one last great surge of pain. Bright light surged across his vision and his helm threw back as he briefly lost control of his body, only his hands remaining sturdy as the agony wracked his body and nearly sent him tumbling back against his mate...

Blissful unconsciousness was tempting beyond belief as darkness threatened to close in on him, but a steadfast instinct to see everything through kept him awake, and a shifting in his hands brought his attention back. Lolling his helm downwards, he watched the metal come to life with an audible singing sound, its edges trembling as the sparkling began to build the first part of its new body. In moments it was expanding to a circular shape that matched what one would expect of a newborn seekerlet.

All he had to do was watch as stubby limbs, the nubs of future wings, and a large helm took shape as was destined. In still fewer moments there were optics and the start of simple armor patterns. Before he had truly rationalized what was happening he was looking at the protoform of a sparkling who was undeniably his, her little limbs twitching to life as fuel started to flow and her internals finally finished forming inside of her.

Bright purple optics came online for the first time as a little mouth opened for its first vent, her expression immediately shifting to surprise as her sensory systems came online and she got her first taste of the world around her. Like all sparklings she found it big, bright, and quite scary.

Her little cry made his previously aching spark sing. Tears streaming down his face, he pulled her impossibly little form close to make her feel warm and safe, almost unable to believe he'd produced something so perfect and healthy and tiny but here she was...

"Our little girl..." Windblade whispered at his side, reaching a tender hand around to cup his hand and make first contact with their firstborn. The bitlet stilled when she felt the combined touch of both parents, her optics cracking open to look up and see them both for the very first time...

**Author's Note:**

> Like all these stories, this one may one day see an update if I'm inspired, but for now ends here on this lovely note...


End file.
